Marie Antoinette's Village, Watercolor

You know how bored you can get when you are so wealthy that there's nothing to strive for? Me either. Marie Antoinette thought it would be cute to build an entire village where she could play at being a milkmaid. Go figure. It has been nicely preserved at Versailles, and the contrast between the palace there and this village is rather like the contrast between Mar-a-Lago and the average American home. Conspicuous consumption is one reason she lost her head.

Carmen

 

Quillyfish

These little fish are for the Just Another Fish on the Wall exhibit at the Fifth Avenue Gallery in Melbourne on April 4th. The technique is called Quilling, hence my title, "Quillyfish." I look forward to seeing what the talented artists around here make for the exhibit. 

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Olive, 12x16 oil on canvas

 

I enjoyed this commission for a dog portrait. This regal photo of the late beloved dog Olive was such a nice pose. 

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Rosa Parks, 9x12 Graphite Drawing

On December 1,1955 in Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Parks refused a bus driver's order to vacate a row of four seats in the "colored" section in favor of a white female passenger who had complained to the driver the white section was full. She was arrested and subsequently became central to the year-long bus boycott in Montgomery. In her autobiography, My Story, she said:

"People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

^Carmen

The Golden Flute

 Here's one from the archives. This lovely woman taught at Juilliard, and when she attended our Pen Women meetings she would treat us to a concert. Pen Women is a National organization of writers, artists, and musicians, chock full of talented women.

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My First Zine

A Zine is a tiny little book made from one sheet of paper. This is my first one,4 1/4 inches high.

For some reason this video continues into the latest one I have posted on YouTube, an award event for a friend. ?

 

Camp Holly, 11x14 Original Florida Oil Painting

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I took this photo from an airboat as we were returning from an excursion on the St. Johns River. It is an attraction for people hoping to see alligators, but this is not the season. We saw only one. Camp Holly is a popular spot, and has been since 1923! Can you imagine how wild it was around here back then? 

Painting this was like putting a puzzle together, and by the time I was done I felt I had been back there for a long stay.

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Portrait of Leigh

What with being out of town and then dealing with results of the hurricane, I haven't had time to finish my recent painting, so I am pulling this from the archives. It's a graphite portrait I did years ago, and one of my favorites. 

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The Other Florida, 12x12 Original Landscape Oil Painting

 

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I had plenty of time to study the landscape as we  recently traversed Florida on Hwy 70. This is the Florida of my childhood; pastures like this and orange groves. Sadly, there aren't very many orange groves these days.

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Halie at the Pool

This is a memory of my granddaughter years ago. Now she is in her twenties, and I miss the hours playing with her and her sister in our pool. 

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Sunflowers for Ukraine, 10x8 Original Oil Painting

 $155

I am so horrified that Russia is waging war on Ukraine, and one of their tactics is torturing and killing civilians. Tyrants and bullies are terrorizing innocent people. I was inspired to paint this symbol of their country and their spirit, and I pray for them to win this war.

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Myakka State Park, Florida Landscape 14x11

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Our family visited beautiful Myakka State Park and went on this hiking trail. We also did a boat tour across the big lake, and it is infested with alligators. An environmentalist might say it is a refuge for alligators, but my word for it is infested. We learned on the tour that Florida's alligator population got down to 500, then they became protected and now there are five million. I used to wonder why we could safely jump in any lake we came upon in Florida and now we can't. They were afraid of humans then and no one was idiotic enough to feed them. 

My uncle was a gator trapper for the state until he was over 70 years old. His job was to remove threatening gators, and they can't be shot like in the TV shows you may have seen. He brought them back alive. He said they have a tiny brain, but are wily creatures. He came by one day with his boat on a trailer and it had a big chomp out of it. The gator fought back.

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Polkadot Cottage Dancing

                                       

Yesterday our painting group, Pieces of Eight, had a fun challenge. We picked a noun, an adjective, and a verb from three columns of random words. I had "Polkadot Cottage Dancing." It was a relaxing and enjoyable day of painting and drawing silly things.

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Ballard Park, Original Oil on Canvas

$155

I had not painted outside in two years, so this was quite a challenge. It was one of those paintings I had to improve upon in the studio. It was exhilarating to be outside in beautiful weather, painting with my friends.

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Black Grapes, Original Oil Painting Still Life, 10x8

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I had to get with it and paint the grapes again before they shriveled into raisins. This is another small painting, oil on canvas panel, 10x8 inches.

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20-Minute Postcard Oil Paintings

This 20-minute rooster is on an actual canvas postcard, ready to address on the back, stamp and drop in the mail.

This is another postcard done in 20 minutes. This is a nasturtium planted by my daughter when she was here.

As soon as they dry, they are ready to mail.

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Black Grapes, Still Life 8x10 Original Oil Painting

Purchase $125

Sometimes I just have the best time painting. I had a canvas that was painted green from a painting I considered a "scraper" (which is a nice word for a disappointing painting). I did a 20-minute still life and got a little of the background filled in when the timer went off. I liked this well enough to finish it. Here is the stage I reached in twenty minutes:

What an ugly green color. It needed obliterating. 

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Florida Surf Scene, 8x10 Oil Painting on Canvas

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 As mentioned in my previous post, Mary Gilkerson's Art+Work+Living.com web page periodically has a five-day challenge to do a painting in 20 minutes. This is such a good exercise, especially for daily painters. I stuck to the time limit to produce this ocean scene. The horizontal dark lines were exactly as depicted.

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Exercise in Art, 20 Minute Painting, Wildlife Refuge

Inspired by Mary Gilkerson's 20-minute challenge, I did this 8x10 oil on canvas in 20 minutes. This is a great exercise in "loosening up," though it is very nerve-wracking. What is supposed to loosen me up tenses me up.

I went back and refined the painting, with the following result. 

Next time I will do 20 minutes, then leave it as is. You don't know how hard that is, unless you're an artist.

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Summer Storm, Pasture Landscape Small Original Oil Painting 10x8

$155

 

If you cross Highway 60 in Central Florida you will often see a scene like this, with dark storm clouds approaching and sun on the pasture in the foreground. I love this kind of light. This scene reminds me of my childhood in "Old Florida". 

Carmen